


A Song to My Heart

by DemiRebel



Category: She-Ra and the Princesses of Power (2018)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, F/F, Fluff, Musician!Catra, Neighbor au, Useless Lesbians
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-12-14
Updated: 2018-12-21
Packaged: 2019-09-18 07:36:53
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 8,371
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16990776
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/DemiRebel/pseuds/DemiRebel
Summary: I've never met you but you're my neighbor and your stupid loud but I can hear you sing and it's fucking gorgeous.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Regards to Alessia Cara and her album The Pains of Growing for inspiration (and all the songs I imagine Catra singing).
> 
> The first one she sings is Not Today.

Adora has finally done it, she made the big move into the city.

Her new apartment wasn’t anything to gawk at but it was decent for what she needed, the neighborhood was good, and the grocery store was right around the corner.

Everything was perfect. 

Except for one thing, her next door neighbor. 

Her neighbor wasn’t just loud, she was a fucking banshee. The walls weren’t that thin so the fact that she could hear the entire one sided conversations her neighbor had on the phone baffled her.

Though she tried to be understanding. Most of the noise happened during the day, which okay, fine, we all are moving around doing things, if her neighbor wants to make noise then, fine. She can handle that.

Adora hoped she’d run into her neighbor in the halls so she could at least put a face to the strained voice. From the sound of it, her neighbor seemed to be really stressed, always having really emotional phone calls. 

However she wasn’t successful. All she ever came face to face with was a taunting apartment number sign that read ‘403’.

~~~

As the week progressed she learned more about the mystery girl in apartment 403. Like the fact she worked crazy late hours; often hearing her storm in next door around 1am, throw things against their adjoining wall. 

The first time it happened she thought someone had broken into her apartment. A quick inspection ended with her ear pressed up to their wall and grimacing.

This kept happening almost every night which made getting a good night’s sleep incredibly difficult. Not to mention that settling into a new city, in a new home, was hard enough, by the end of week she had reached her limit. 

Tomorrow was her day off, she was finally allowed to sleep in, until the door next door slammed open and closed with way too much force. Her neighbor was screaming curses at the wall and knocking shit to the ground.

She was pissed to say the least. 

She waited 3 seconds before ripping herself out of bed about to fight fire with fire. She struggled to put on a jacket in her blind rage, nearing her door when she heard a piano. 

She stopped in front of her door, waiting. The notes started slow as they quickened into a song. What surprised her was the voice that joined in. It was tense, as if she was about to burst into tears but still beautiful.

Adora stared at her door listening to the muffled words through the wall. She was in a trance until curiosity overtook her and she followed the sound further into her apartment. She pressed her ear up against the wall to hear the last few words of the song.

“One day the thought of them won't hurt the same  
Won't need distractions to get through the day  
I guess I hope I’m gonna be okay  
'Cause I'm not today…”

The words slowly fell away to sobs and Adora felt her heart fall. The space between them grew quiet. Adora heard shuffling and sniffling on the other side as she stayed leaning against the wall.

She didn’t know what to think, her mind was muddled as she stood in quiet darkness. It wasn’t long before she made her way back to bed. 

~~~

Since that night Adora formed a unique fascination for her neighbor. 

Anytime she heard talking or movement next door she would listen with probably too much interest. Almost like she was trying to piece together the mystery behind them. She also may or may not have moved her couch to their adjoining wall so she could sit and drink tea when her neighbor decided to play music.

She was still obnoxiously loud at times and sure she could go over and tell her to be more quiet but what if she stopped playing music? 

And boy did she fucking love her music.

Over time Adora discovered she played the piano, guitar, and on rare occasions the ukulele. The songs she sung were beautifully sad and somber, some of which got stuck in her head.

Some nights she wondered what the hell she was doing. It was harmless right? If she hadn’t ran into her neighbor now, what are the odds. Plus it wasn’t that serious, she’s just living her life in her apartment, not her fault her neighbor is really loud.

Or at least that’s what she kept telling herself.

~~~

One day things were different.

Things were quiet for the most part for the evening so she was a bit surprised when she started to hear yelling next door. It was different from the past few times her neighbor has raised her voice, she sounded like she was on the phone and on the verge of tears. Considering she could only hear half of the conversation she couldn’t make out what they were talking about. Although her neighbor sounded wrecked by how strained her voice sounded

It ended with a loud, “Do whatever you want!” And the sound of something being thrown followed by sobbing.

Adora’s gut twisted, she wanted to do something but what? Just go over and say, “Hey so I was listening to you through the wall, are you ok?” Her cheeks grew a bit hot at the idea of admitting that. This whole listening in on her neighbor sing and play music was kind of stalkerish.

As she heard more sobs next door Adora couldn’t help but feel like trash. 

This was a person’s life and she’s been treating it like some drama on a TV show. She felt pathetic, the feeling following her to the next day. She tried to clear her mind with mundane chores like grocery shopping. For the most part, it was helping her a little bit as she made her way to checkout when she passed some flowers. She stopped and stared at them. Then without thinking added them to her cart.

She later left them on her neighbors doormat. Part of her wanted to leave a note but she couldn’t figure out what she would even write.

God she didn’t even know her neighbors name. 

That night she kept her earbuds in, not wanting to know anything on how her neighbor interpreted her weird flower apology. 

~~~

“So let me get this straight. You were eavesdropping on your neighbor, who you’ve never met, and gave them flowers because you felt bad?”

Adora chewed her straw as she avoided Glimmers scrutinizing glare.

“Well, sort of, what else was I supposed to do?”

“Um, ignore it like anyone else!” Glimmer said while waving her hands frantically. Bow raised his hands coming to Adora’s defense, “Well I think it’s sort of sweet.”

Glimmer glared at him, “Adora you don’t even know what your neighbor looks like let alone their name. You don’t owe them anything, if anything it should be the opposite.”

She covered her face and groaned, “I know, but I felt bad, it sounds like she has a lot going on.”

Glimmer shook her head, “Adora you’re hopeless, we can’t help you with your weird urge to to help total strangers.”

“Like that time we waited 20 minutes for you because you wouldn’t stop holding the door open for everyone at the store,” Bow interjected.

“Exactly. Buuuuut we can take you out this weekend! A new bar opened up, it’ll give you some time out of your apartment and you can have fun with your best friends!” Glimmer was practically sparkling as she slung an arm around both of them.

Adora laughed, “Well when you put it like that, how can I say no.”

Maybe going out wouldn’t be too bad.

~~~

Nope never mind, she hates going out.

The place was packed and it wasn’t exactly big to begin with. Not to mention she hated being squished by a bunch of strangers. The three of them were lucky to find at least one barstool open where glimmer sat and her and bow crowded around her to order drinks. 

“Adora relax, we’re supposed to be having fun”, Glimmer nudged her shoulder.

“Sorry, there’s just so many people here. I guess I didn’t expect this place to be so popular?”

Bow sipped at his drink, “It’s probably because there’s a show tonight.”

“Oh? Who’s playin-.”

Before she could finish the overhead light dimmed and someone walked onto a small stage grabbing everyone’s attention.

“Thank you all for coming tonight! For our first act we have one of our beloved local musicians, everyone give a warm welcome for Catra!”

The crowd claps with a few whistles as a girl with fluffy brown hair, guitar in hand, comes out on stage. The girl adjusted the mic, her voice was low and smooth, “Thanks for coming, I got some new songs for you all tonight.”

The girl, Catra, started strumming a few chords as Adora began zoning out, gazing amongst the crowd. That was until she started to sing. Her eyes snapped back on stage, her mouth gaping a little. 

There’s no mistaking it, it was the exact same voice she’s been hearing next door for the past month. She couldn’t look away, finally being able to put a face to all those moments she sat on her couch listening to emotion-ripped singing. 

She was in a trance, trying to make out more details of this girl, Catra, even if she was a bit far for her to make out everything. Her fingers dancing over frets, her foot tapping to the beat, and her head hung low as her eyes closed when she hung higher notes. Watching her move with the music was ten times better than just hearing it, you could see the passion she had for it. The passion behind each word and how much it meant to her.

Adora didn’t realize how long she was staring, eyes never leaving Catra even when it came for her to leave the stage. Adora’s eyes lingered to where she disappeared. 

She blinked a few times before looking over at her friends who were giving her shit eating grins.

“What?”

Bow put his arm on her shoulder, “Didja see something you like?”

“W-what?! No! What would make you say that?”

“Oh maybe it’s because you were so distracted by that girl you didn’t hear a word we said to you.” Adora’s cheeks flushed as Glimmer crossed her arms.

“It’s not like that. That girl is my neighbor.”

“What? But I thought you’ve never seen her before?”

“I haven’t but I’ve overheard her singing enough times to recognize her voice. It’s definitely her.”

“Oh my god, you’ve got to go talk to her!”

“Wait what, no! What would I even say, hey you’ve never met me but I’m your neighbor and I’ve been listening to you sing for the past month?”

Before her friends could respond the bartender placed a drink in front of Adora.

“Uh, I didn’t order this?”

“It’s from the girl at the end of the bar” he gestured to none other than Catra herself, a predatory grin on her face.

“Well you better think what you’re going to say quick”

“Wait no, you are not leaving me.”

“Bye Adora!” Glimmer pushes Bow away as he waved at her apologetically.

“Traitors!” She stared off where they disappeared into the crowd right before she felt someone walk up beside her.

She turned around to Catra, a little stunned by finally getting a closer look at her. Freckles danced across her cheeks and she couldn’t look away from her eyes, one blue the other yellow.

“Hey, enjoy the show?”

Adora’s mind was going a mile a minute. From wondering whether Catra somehow knew she was listening to her for all this time to the fact that she was freaking gorgeous. In the end, all she could really do was fall into auto pilot.

“Haha, yeah, I’m a big fan.”

Catra laughed a bit, “I’d say, considering you were staring at me stupid the entire time.”

Adora froze, oh god was it that obvious. 

Catra lifted her chin with a finger.

“It was super cute.”

Goodbye sanity. Her face burned, babbling nonsense in an attempt to save herself.

“Y-yeah, I really love that last song you played, had it stuck in my head for weeks.”

Catra let out a short laugh, furrowing her eyebrows, “Heh, you don’t have to lie about being a fan.” Cute or not, Adora wasn’t fond of being called a liar.

“What do you mean, I wasn’t lying?”

Catra leveled her with an unimpressed stare. 

“Look you’re not slick, all those songs tonight were new, you don’t have to play dumb, its obvious you were distracted by something else.”

“PPffftt, yeah, sure.”

Adora looked away, realizing her poor choice in words. Of course they all had to be new, except they weren’t because she’s been listening to her practice them next door.

“Okay, since you’re such a fan, how bout we head back to my place, I can give you a private show.”

Adora short circuited for a moment. Part of her wanted to say yes, but what would happen when she leaves to go next door? She couldn’t just lie to her that she wasn’t her neighbor. Especially if they ever ran into each other after that. God that would be a nightmare.

“Hey? You don’t have to…”

Adora blinked not realizing she had grown silent. Catra wasn’t looking at her anymore, instead paying a lot of attention to her feet. Her eyebrows were knit together in rejection.

Adora felt guilty, this person who was her neighbor who she’s been listening in on for her own entertainment. This person who was beautiful and talented and dealt with a lot of emotional shit. Who was she to add to that mix? She couldn’t just stand here and not tell her. 

And like that she blurted it out without thinking it through.

“I’m your neighbor.”

Catra looked back up at her, confused.

“No you’re not?”

“Uh, yeah, I’m pretty sure, I’ve heard your songs through the wall for like the past week.”

Catra stared at her, not saying anything for a good moment. She could see the gears moving in her head before she snapped back to life.

“Wait what, no!? I don’t have any neighbors on my floor?”

“Your apartment 403 right?”

Catra was starting to look frazzled. 

“What the fuck!”

“Yeah, uh, you’re kind of loud.”

Catra rubbed her temples.

“No, it’s the fact that apartment has been vacant for so long and I never saw anyone, Jesus Christ, how much can you hear?”

“A lot.”

Catra groaned and threw her head into her hands, she noted how the tips of her ears went red.

“Kill me.”

“Hey it’s really not that bad, I don’t mind at all. Your music is really amazing.”

“Oh god spare me, don’t act like I wasn’t just hitting on my fucking neighbor, who’s been listening to me be a loud ass for god knows how long.”

“I’m really sorry.”

“What are you even apologizing for?” Catra looked appalled by her apology.

“Uh, well I’ve never said anything about it, I guess for invading your privacy?”

Catra stared at her long enough for her to feel self-conscience. 

“What?”

“Are you always this much of a goody two shoes?”

“W-what?! Excuse me, I’m just trying to be considerate!”

“Well don’t, I don’t need it. I’m outta here.”

“Hey, I’m not done talking to you!”

Catra made her way to the exit with Adora following close behind. It wasn’t until they were outside that she could get any words out.

“You can’t just brush people off like that it’s so rude.”

“I’m pretty sure I can and would you not follow me.”

“Unless you forgot we’re neighbors, we’re headed in the same direction genius.”

“God why are you so annoying.”

“You don’t even know me! Five seconds ago all you wanted to do was get in my pants.”

Catra faltered in her step a bit, her face glowed red, “So call me a bad judge of character, you’re not even that pretty!”

”Oh please, you think I’m adorable.”

“Really wish you’d shut up.”

“And I wish you weren’t such an ass, but here we are.”

They continued their bickering all the way back to the fourth floor of their apartment building. It wasn’t until Adora made it to her door that Catra became quiet. Watching as she took out her keys to unlock the door. Before she could walk through Catra spoke up.

“Hey, uh, I don’t think I caught your name.”

Adora turned around seeing Catra nervously fumble with her keys. Besides all the bickering it was sort of fun plus she couldn’t deny how cute she was. It made her smile.

“It’s Adora.”

“Well welcome to the building, I guess.”

Adora beamed at her

“Thanks.” 

“And don’t be so nice, if I’m too loud bang on the wall.”

Before she could reply, Catra fled into her apartment. She faltered before she did the same and leaned against her door. 

Maybe things wouldn’t be so bad.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Gay nonsense ensues…

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ´･ᴗ･` You all have been so kind and sweet in the comments, thank you all for the support <3

The following week Catra was eerily quiet next door. She would hear shuffling every so often but nothing louder than that. The worst part is she didn’t play any music.

It made her a little sad, but Catra was pretty upset so she supposed it was inevitable. She tried her best to ignore it and just live her life but that lasted for about a day. She forgot how mundane her life was, everything was so structured and expected, almost robotic. Sure she had Glimmer and Bow, but they’re normally busy with their own things. She never realized how much she looked forward to coming home to hear Catra play music. Without that her apartment felt kind of empty. 

There wasn’t much for her to do about it. She did her best to not think about it too much as the week went by. Sometimes she’d catch herself staring at Catra’s door wondering if she could do anything without being weird. Though nothing came to mind.

One day she caught herself staring at Catra’s door again. Her eyes stared at the ‘403’ apartment sign before gazing down at the doorknob. She blinked a little when she realized there was a set of keys hanging from the lock. She walked over and pulled the keys out and noticed a little cat keychain attached to it.

Catra probably forgot them in the lock. Adora internally grimaced at all the times she accidentally done that, remembering the slight panic she had when she couldn’t find her keys.

So what else would she do except return them to Catra. She knocked on the door feeling a small thrill at having an excuse to be able to see her again.

She stood there for a good while, starting to contemplate whether she should knock again. She raised her hand when the door opened, Catra leaned against the wall completely silent, she stared at her expectantly.

“Uh, hey, I think you left your keys in your lock?”

She offered the keys and Catra stared at them for a second, almost suspicious. She eventually swiped them out of her hand.

“Thanks.”

They stood there silently, too long to not be awkward.

“So, uh”, she tried to break the ice but had no idea where to begin.

“Am I being quiet enough for you?” Catra stared at her accusingly.

“I never said you had to be quiet.” Adora felt a bit dejected. This is exactly why she didn’t want to say anything about it. She didn’t want to make Catra feel self- conscious or label herself as the ‘bitchy’ neighbor.

“Yeah, well-”, Catra’s face contorted as she began to lose her composure. Before she completed her thought she shut the door in her face. Stunned, Adora stared at the door before a wave of anger overtook her as she banged back on the door.

“What the hell, Catra, I was talking to you!”

Catra called from inside, “Sorry can’t hear you!”

“You’re so childish! Come back and talk to me like a regular person!”

Adora banged on the door but all she could hear was Catra singing loudly to herself to drown her out.

Adora stormed into her apartment and grabbed a sticky note and pen. She furiously wrote ‘That was low  ’ and slammed it on Catra’s door for extra effect.

Who even does something like that? 

She tried to go about her night as normal, except she may or may not have thrown a few pillows in frustration. All she could really do was fume for a bit before settling down for the night.

It wasn’t until the next day she allowed herself to think about it. Or more so because she found a similar note on her door that read: 

Trust me princess, nothings too low for me ;3

She sputtered at the retaliation. As she entered her home she made a move to toss it before stopping and sticking it on her fridge. She smirked as she read it again. 

As much of a pain Catra was to talk to, she couldn’t help but feel a thrill whenever they spoke. It was fun not having someone ride her coattails or trip over themselves following her like a lost puppy.

It was different, a change of pace.

A challenge.

They continued their note passing as the week went on. They never talked about anything relevant, but it was a good opportunity to make a few bad jokes and the anticipation to read that fabled sassy response from Catra always put a skip in her step. 

One day her note was tagged along with a package at the base of her door. 

She picked it up, the note reading:

The mailman gave this to me instead of you on accident :P sorry I opened it…  
P.S. a horse blanket? Really adorka?

Adora smiled as she walked into her place. She added Catra’s note to her fridge with all the rest as she wrote a response.

She didn’t realize how much she loved this. It was just so invigorating, she felt like she could trust Catra to not be dainty with her, she expected nothing but blunt honesty and that put her at ease. Plus, it was fun.

She just hoped it was mutual.

~~~

One evening she found herself coming home later than usual. It had been a long day so the relief she felt when she saw her door was unfathomable.

She reached into her pocket for her keys and came out empty handed. She patted her other pockets to nothing but her wallet and phone. She cursed under her breath as she triple checked everything but to no avail. 

She stared at her door, cycling back through the day to when she last had them. She couldn’t remember any moment she held them or clipped them to her pants loop and then she realized where they were. 

She had left them on her kitchen table.

She groaned as she knocked her head on her door.

She remembers it so clearly now, placing them on the table, even internally reminding herself to grab it before she left, and she forget it. Leaving by locking the other side of the doorknob.

Adora glanced down at her phone for the time. Yup, way too late for her to get ahold of her landlord. The worst part is her keys were right on the other side of her door and she couldn’t get in until maybe tomorrow. What was she supposed to do for the night?

She glanced over at Catra’s door.

She sighed seeing it as the best option and moved to knock on her door. She waited, praying she was home but it didn’t seem likely by how long she stood there. She glanced at her phone trying to figure out what to do. Bow and Glimmer lived on the complete opposite side of the city. Plus she didn’t want to bother them this late.

“Hey Adora.” 

Adora’s shoulders dropped in relief. There Catra stood leaning against her door, a mirror image from the last time she answered the door, except way too cocky for her own good.

“Hey, I sort of locked my keys inside my place, is there any way I can crash for the night? The landlord sort of goes MIA after 6pm.”

Catra just studied her starting to make her feel self-conscious. She didn’t feel like this was a super weird thing to ask but her silence made her second guess. Maybe it was too forward, maybe Catra actually hated her?

“Have you replaced the screws in your door yet?”

Adora blinked, Catra blinked right back, expression neutral.

“Uh, no?”

Catra moved around her to her door as she continued.

“Why would I, what are you – CATRA NO!”

Without a moment’s hesitation, Catra lifted her foot and kicked her door in. The wood near the lockset splintering as it was completely ripped from the wall.

“Problem fixed.” 

Adora gaped at her, her cheeks starting to feel hot.

“What the hell Catra! You couldn’t just let me crash so I could get it opened tomorrow?”

“This is faster, plus I did you a favor, those screws needed to be changed to reinforce the door. Otherwise you’re just asking to be robbed.”

“You couldn’t have, oh I don’t know, just tell me that like a normal person? How the hell am I supposed to sleep in my place with a broken front door?”

Catra threw her hands up with an exasperated sigh.

“Fine, if it bothers you that much you can crash.”

“This isn’t about crashing, I want you to fix my door!”

“Fine, god, I will.”

“And I still want to crash, I’m not getting stabbed in my sleep because of you.”

“Will you stop being so dramatic, I’m sorry okay?”

Adora rubbed her temple before she felt Catra nudge her shoulder with her own. She looked up at her but Catra avoided her eyes.

“Hey for real, I’m sorry, go get your stuff or whatever, my door will be unlocked, come over whenever.”

With that Catra left her alone in the hallway. Adora looked back at her door before cleaning up some of the pieces of her door that fell on the ground. As she picked up the screws she tsked at how small they were. Catra was right, the screws were pathetically small, probably not even an inch long.

Adora felt a little flustered at admitting she was right in her head. Catra had good intentions just terrible execution. 

She made her way into her apartment and gathered her things, throwing on a tank top and sweatpants. She put her charger, toothbrush, and a few other things into a small backpack before heading over.

She called out as she entered, unsurprisingly the apartment was a similar set up as hers. However, she noted the few posters on the wall, the décor was nothing fancy but added some taste to the space. She made her way further into the apartment until she entered a living room which connected to the kitchen.

She caught Catra’s eye as she was moving in the kitchen, “Make yourself comfortable. Hope the couch is fine.”

“No, it’s more than fine, thanks”, Adora mumbled. She settled her bag down before awkwardly taking a seat and looking around.

She didn’t sit there for too long before Catra came over handing her a mug. She stared at it a bit surprised. 

“It’s just hot chocolate, relax.”

Catra sat down on the other side of the couch and sipped her own drink. Adora followed suit, using the excuse to drink while she tried to figure out what to say. She supposed a thank you was in order.

“Thank you.”

“Don’t thank me, I broke your door.”

Adora sputtered at how aggressive she responded.

“Well, yeah, but for letting me stay over… And the hot chocolate.”

Catra just shrugged avoiding eye contact, before she leaned forward and grabbed the TV remote.

“Let’s just watch something?”

Catra fumbled with the remote as she hastily threw on the first thing on her recommended list, which turned out to be some comedian. She watched it half-heartedly, comfortable just sitting there as they sipped their drinks. They laughed together a few times at the TV and every so often she would sneak a glance at Catra.

She was scrunched up into the corner of the couch with her knees to her chest. Her fluffy hair was pulled back into a high ponytail. Eventually she leaned forward to put her empty mug on the coffee table and that’s when she noticed her shirt. It was a large graphic T with a bunch of cats in space, she chuckled a bit at the sight. Catra caught her laugh and eyed her suspiciously.

“What?”

“Nothing, I was just admiring your shirt.”

“Shut up, it was an impulse buy.”

“Oh so you admit you’re impulsive, first my door, then the shirt. The world wants to know Catra, what will you do next?”

Catra sighed dramatically making her laugh a bit as she put her empty mug down by hers.

“Oh my god, I’ll fix your door, chill.”

“Oh stop being so cute.”

“Aaahhhh, stop flirting with me.” Catra’s face lit up as she grabbed a throw pillow and threw it at her. However, she caught it smirking at Catra’s disapproving face.

“Why? You didn’t seem to have a problem when we first met?”

She threw the pillow back at her. She could practically see Catra bristle as she grabbed another pillow and bounced on her knees and started pelting her with it. Adora couldn’t help but laugh at how easy she could ruffle Catra up. 

“Jesus, I didn’t know you were my neighbor then!”

Adora pushed Catra back with her foot making her flump back onto the couch. She grabbed the pillow she was leaning against and hit her back.

“What does that change?”

Catra sat back up on her knees and Adora did the same. Their pillows collided at the same time, turning it into a strength.

“Pft, I don’t have to explain myself to you, like you said, I don’t know you.”

Catra’s hand slipped on the pillow and Adora got the upper hand. However, the momentum had her falling a bit into Catra as her pillow impacted her chest pushing her down. Adora had fallen too but caught herself about a foot away from her.

“You’re right, you don’t know me”, Adora could feel Catra breathe as she continued, “Let’s fix that.”

Adora moved back to sit on the couch, a smile dancing across her lips. Catra looked stunned, a bright red still danced over her face as she stared at Adora. It was honestly too cute to be legal. 

“Let’s play 20 questions.”

Catra hadn’t moved, staring at her like she grew a second head.

“Here I’ll start, what was the last thing you impulse bought?”

Catra seemed to snap out of her trance and groaned.

“God damn it I’m so bad at this game… a cat vase…”

Adora laughed, “A what?”

Catra pointed an accusing finger at her, “Hey it’s my turn.”

Adora lifted her hands as Catra continued to think of a question. Her eyes wandered to her arms.

“How much can you bench press?”

Adora’s smile grew, “About 200 lbs.”

Catra put a hand over her heart, “Jesus. Christ.”

“Do you want me to flex?”

Catra covered her face, “You are so embarrassing.”

“Is that a yes?”

“…Yes. And that was your question!”

Adora shrugged and flexed reveling in how Catra peeked through her fingers as she did so.

“Okay next question… How long have you been living next door?”

“Oh, uh, for about two months now I think.”

“Two months! How the hell haven’t I noticed?”

“It’s really not that bad.”

Catra gave her a look that begged a differ.

“Well my turn now. How long have you been playing music?”

“Hmmm, I started in chorus when I was kid. I guess I just gravitated towards it, growing up I learned a few instruments and stuff from friends and different clubs.”

Before she could respond Catra’s phone started to ring and vibrate on the coffee table. Catra grimaced as she picked it up to see the caller ID. Her eyes squinted and she immediately muted her phone and slammed it face down with a bit too much force.

“A junk call?” Adora chuckled a bit nervously.

“Yeah, something like that. My turn right?”

As she thought up a question her phone began to ring again. Catra groaned as she grabbed it, glaring daggers at the screen.

“It’s okay if you need to answer it?”

Catra glanced at her uneasily. She looked strained and almost a little afraid. She looked back at her phone and took a deep breath.

She muttered, “I’ll be right back.” Catra answered the phone and gave the person on the other line a quick hello as she disappeared behind a door. 

Adora sat there a bit awkwardly trying to focus on the TV. However, every now and then she could hear Catra’s muffled voice raise a few times but it was obvious she was trying to keep quiet. After a good 5 minutes or so Catra came back out looking more ruffled and tired than before.

“Everything okay?”

Catra surprised her a bit by flopping face down onto the couch, her legs thrown over her lap.

She muffled through the pillow, “Just my mom calling to tell me my dreams are stupid again.”

“What? Why?”

Catra flipped around and hugged a pillow.

“Because I had good grades in school and I’m apparently throwing it all away to become a musician.”

“Has she heard you play before?

“Yeah, she still doesn’t approve.”

“Really?” 

Adora could hardly believe that. How could someone hear Catra and not fall in love? She could feel herself starting to feel frustrated for Catra.

“Yeah, I just didn’t want to get trapped in a shitty corporate job, ya know?”

“Of course and plus you sound amazing!” She may have responded a bit to excitedly.

“Thanks… Sorry I didn’t mean to start talking about this, she just gets under my skin.”

“No you’re fine, I think it’s really cool you’re pursuing something you love. Plus what you’re doing makes you happy right?”

“Yeah.”

“So then it’s already worth it.”

Adora gave her leg a reassuring squeeze but Catra just covered half her face with a pillow and peeked over at her.

“It’s getting late, let’s clean up and I’ll get you some blankets for the night.”

Catra disappeared back where she assumed was her bedroom. Adora grabbed the mugs as she headed into the kitchen to rinse them out. However, she noticed a bouquet of flowers in a cat vase as she entered.

She had almost forgotten about it but they were the same flowers she gave her. She felt a little warm that Catra had liked them well enough to take care of them for this long. They were a little wilted but the fact that they even lasted this long was impressive.

“You good in there”, Catra called out from the living room. She looked up as she dumped a few blankets and another pillow on the couch before coming over.

“Yeah, I see why you bought that cat vase now.”

Catra sauntered over and leaned against a wall, eyeing the flowers.

“Yeah, you wouldn’t believe it but those flowers just showed up at my door one day. I bet it was some address mistake, but their loss.”

Catra cackled a bit at the memory while Adora bit her tongue. She could tell her, but what if it made things weird again?

“Well looks like you’ll need some new flowers soon, they’re starting to wilt.”

Catra shrugged, “Yeah we’ll see, flowers can get expensive ya know?”

Adora hummed in response as she finished rinsing out the mugs and placed them down to dry. Catra was already holding up a towel for her to dry her hands before leading her back to the couch.

“I don’t know what kind of pillows you like so I brought an extra. And I have a couple blankets for you to use.”

Adora poked through the stack of blankets, some thick and fluffy, other thin and soft.

“Thank you again, I really appreciate this.”

Catra shrugged and started inching towards her room.

“Yeah it’s the least I can do after I… you know. So, um, I’ll see you in the morning?”

It came out more like a question than a goodnight. Adora looked up from unfolding the blankets, Catra appeared small as she inched back to her room. She seemed to get embarrassed easily whenever they talked about anything remotely sentimental. As if she was afraid to get too close to someone but still tried nonetheless.

Her smile grew, “Of course, good night Catra.”

“Good night Adora.”

~~~

Since that night Catra had lowered some of her walls for her and was unreasonably giddy because of it. She was happy that she was someone Catra could trust and feel comfortable around. However, it didn’t stop the bickering between the two, but she didn’t mind that. If anything, the bickering just made it more fun, never knowing what Catra would challenge her on next.

They were able to work together to get her door fixed and Adora had went out and bought her a new bouquet. Half to thank her for letting her stay the night and the other half so she could fluster her. Adora giggled to herself as she recalled Catra’s reaction.

After handing her the flowers Catra had turned a beat red.

“You’re enjoying this way too much.”

“Maybe. Though in my defense, you make it way too easy.”

Adora felt her heart flutter as she shoved a pillow into her face.

At first, she had intended it to be harmless flirting. Something to use to get back at Catra when they were sassing each other. Although recently, it’s been starting to feel like she actually means it. As if she was starting to develop real feelings for her. 

A crack of thunder from outside pulled her out of her thoughts.

She peeled herself out of bed to look out her window. It was late in the evening and the rain was starting to come down hard. She watched as a streak of light flashed overhead followed by another building-shaking boom.

Yet this time it was accompanied by a scream.

Adora stood up straight, completely on alert. She turned around slowly, listening closely. She walked further out of her room to where she heard the sound. With another clap of thunder she heard the scream again.

It was coming from Catra’s apartment.

Adora’s face paled as she practically felt her head fall through her chest in fear. Her mind started to whirl with worst case scenarios as her instincts took over. She ran next door and banged on Catra’s door.

“Catra!”

No response. 

Her mind wasn’t doing her any favors. What if someone had broken in and were robbing her? What if it was a serial killer?

She banged again with more force, “Catra, it’s Adora, open the door!” 

The relief she felt when Catra opened the door was like being able to breathe again.

Catra was wrapped in a blanket her face attempted at a coy smile but it looked strained, “Hey Ador-“

Another loud clap of thunder boomed above, causing Catra to launch herself into her arms. Adora stood there for a moment as Catra squeezed her in a bear hug. Things were starting to connect in her head.

Adora slowly put her arms around Catra and, god, was she trembling?

Her brows furrowed, “Do you want to come over?”

All she got was a small nod before she led her back to her place. Catra calmed down a hair as they made their way into her living room.

“I-I’m really sorry about this, I don’t like storms, you don’t actually have to do any of this.”

Adora sat on her couch and looked back at her. Catra was clutching her blanket in a death grip as she eyed her surroundings nervously. Her eyes reflecting fear instead of her usual fire and she was so uncharacteristically timid in that moment. Adora’s heart hurt at the sight.

“Hey, you were there when I needed help, I can do the same.”

She held out her arms, and like a water Catra fell into her arms. Adora warped her arms around her as she put on a light hearted movie.

They sat like that for a while, the whirring of the TV calmed Catra a bit but with every loud boom she would tense up against her and dig her face into her blanket. Adora held her through it and at some point she started to stroke her hair. It seemed to help calm her down as Catra tried to focus on the TV instead of the storm.

Eventually the thunder began to fade but the rain continued to pound against her window. Inch by inch she could feel Catra relax into her arms. They had shifted enough on the couch where they were both laying along the couch with Catra on top of her. Catra had her blanket messily wrapped around her with some of the blanket bunched around her face. She nestled into it like a pillow, her eyes were closed as Adora continued to pet her head. Adora couldn’t help but chuckle at the sight.

“You’re like a cat.”

Catra’s nose scrunched, “Don’t ruin the moment.”

“Oh I didn’t realize we were having one.”

Catra opened her eyes to glare at her but it only made Adora’s smile stretch wider. Adora internally celebrated at being able to look into her eyes since the entire time Catra either had her face hidden or her eyes shut. They were beautiful, the colorful lights from the TV dancing over her face. But most of all, she was happy to see that small fire back in her eyes.

It was in that moment that the lights overhead and the TV powered off with a small zip.

They froze for a second in complete darkness, but the feeling of Catra freezing in her arms helped her recover a bit faster.

“It’s okay, a branch probably took down a powerline somewhere.” 

Catra sighed and dropped her head back on her chest, “Whatever, just keep petting me.”

“So needy.”

“Shut up.” 

Adora happily complied.

She didn’t know how long they stayed like that before they both fell asleep to the dull pound of rain outside.

~~~

Even though she had gotten closer to Catra she still had yet to hear her play music again.

So one evening, when she heard the first few notes of a song she hurried to their adjoining wall. It was even more beautiful than she remembered, especially when she started to sing. 

She hadn’t heard this song before so she was probably working on something new. When the song ended she felt the need to fill the silence with something.

So she called through the wall, “I really liked that one.”

She heard a sudden bang through the other side.

“Jesus Christ, don’t scare me like that!”

Adora laughed to herself, “Sorry. I can put on earphones?”

She was quiet for a second, “N-no it’s okay. I uh… you didn’t think it was too whiney?”

“Not at all! It had a lot of great emotion, if anything it really puts you in the moment.”

Adora felt so giddy that Catra was allowing her to talk about it so openly. No more walls between them, except literally.

Although what she wasn’t expecting was Catra to continue to play her music almost every night since then and ask through the wall on her thoughts. As if Catra already knew she was there, actively listening to her like a moth to the flame. 

She didn’t know what made her more embarrassed, the idea that Catra just assumed she had her complete attention or the fact that she actually did.

So it became a habit between them, where she would practice her new songs and then patiently await her critique through the wall. It felt like they entered their own little world when she went home. A sanctuary. Where whenever Catra needed her, she was there and vice versa.

She just hoped she could be there for every moment, but life always seems to find a way to make things more complicated.

~~~

It was sudden.

When she found out that her mother had been in a car accident. Before she knew it she bought a plane ticket and was on the first flight back home.

Thank god it didn’t result into something more serious, the doctor said they were lucky she didn’t get harmed. Her mother was released from the hospital the same day but she decided to spend the rest of the week with her before heading back to the city. 

She sighed as she unlocked her door and slumped into apartment. The trip was a bit exhausting but she was relieved that everything was fine, just a small scare. Adora threw her luggage to the side and jumped on her bed.

It was always good to come home to a nice bed at the end of the day. She stayed like that for a few minutes until she heard repeated knocking at her door.

She got up a bit confused. Her flight ran late so it was around 8pm and she wasn’t expecting anyone. She made her way to the door and peeked through.

“Catra”, She said a bit surprised opening the door fully. Catra huffed and her hands clutched at her sides.

“Where the hell have you been!?” 

Adora stumbled a bit at her anger a bit confused, “Wha-.“

“You talk to me nonstop and then suddenly you just disappear for a week? You didn’t think to tell me anything so I wouldn’t think you were dead or kidnapped!”

Catra ended with an unintentional hiccup as her eyes began to water. Her hands stayed clutched by her sides as she shook.

“Catra”, she reached out and touched her hand, causing her fist to instantly loosen, “I’m sorry, it was all really sudden, my mom got into an accident.”

Catra relaxed a bit, “Is she okay?”

Adora nodded and put her hands on her shoulders giving her a reassuring squeeze, “I’m sorry I didn’t tell you.”

Catra halfheartedly tried to shrug her hands off her shoulders but Adora stayed firm.

“It’s whatever, I know I’m overreacting, but I don’t even have your number and you never answered when I played my music and I thought you might’ve been kidnapped, or murdered, or had gotten sick of me…”

She was rambling and she didn’t notice the tears that ran down her face. Adora drew her into her embrace, just holding her for a good moment. 

“I’m sorry, I really am, I should have told you, it was really rude of me.”

Catra stayed silent for a while before eventually lifting her arms to return the hug. She squeezed her a bit before nuzzling her nose into the crook of her neck.

She had missed this.

~~~

A few days later Adora was working on her couch when she heard the telltale notes of a guitar next door. She readjusted on the couch and listened to music weave around her.

(AN: Feel free to read or listen https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=akeDIIGYP7g)  
Never have I ever been someone who's had it all  
Like not at all, yeah  
And on occasion I could think too much  
I get uncomfortable, hide behind my walls  
And I talk in circles  
But at least I say what I mean  
And I rock my heart on the sleeve of my t-shirt

So if I should die tomorrow, I'd die with all of me on me  
And if I give back the time that I've borrowed  
I know I gave everything, everything

And no, you won't  
No, you won't forget, forget me no  
No, you won't  
No, you won't forget, forget this girl next door

No, no, no, no  
Never have I ever met someone who worries like I do  
That's nothing new, yeah  
And I don't really like to get dressed up  
What's it to you? I know what I can do  
And I'm not Bowie, Prince or Queen  
But at least I do what I dream  
And I rock my soul on both sleeves of my t-shirt

So if I should die tomorrow, I'd die with all of me on me  
And if I give back the time that I've borrowed  
I know I gave everything, everything

And no, you won't  
No, you won't forget, forget me no  
No, you won't  
No, you won't forget, forget this girl next door

And I may not've been a genius  
I'm just a girl with some reasons to stay Plain Jane  
But I won't go, do you hear me?  
I'll be sure not to leave 'fore you know my name

If I should die tomorrow, I'd die with all of me  
And if I give back the time that I've borrowed  
I know I gave everything

And no, you won't (you won't)  
No, you won't (you won't) forget (Forget), forget me no  
No, you won't (you won't)  
No, you won't (you won't) forget, forget this girl next door

Adora held her breath as the notes died down. She waited until Catra’s voice rose through the wall.

“Adora… You there?”

“Y-yeah.” Her voice cracked a bit.

“Will you go out with me?”

Adora was moving before she registered, suddenly bounding out of her apartment and knocking on Catra’s door.

The answer was slow as Catra peered at her nervously.

“Is that a… yes?”

Adora hiccup-laughed before throwing herself at her for a hug. She moved back to lightly kiss her soft on her lips. One kiss as a promise for more to come. She pulled back to then lightly kiss her nose. Catra scrunches her nose at the delicate treatment.

“Yes.”


End file.
